Texas Sen. Ted Cruz displayed a flair for showmanship this afternoon at the Senates gun violence hearing as he sought to puncture the argument for a proposed ban on assault weapons.

What it bans, I would suggest to you, are scary looking guns, he said.

With a life size photo of a Remington 750, a popular hunting rifle used  as Cruz said, by millions of Americans  the senator argued that the proposed ban focuses on cosmetic features such as pistol grips that in no way change the lethality of a weapon.

He produced a plastic pistol grip and held it to the photo to demonstrate...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz holds a pistol grip up to a life-size photo of a Remington 750, a popular hunting rifle, during Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee on curbing gun violence. Cruz said simply adding such a grip would turn the 750 into the kind of "scary-looking gun" that would be affected by an assault weapons ban.

They know damn right well what they’re trying to ban, and they don’t give a crap about these demonstrations.

A bigger question for the good Senator to ask is:

“The Dept Homeland Security just bought 7000 semi-auto AR-15s and calls them “Personal Defense Rifles”; why is it that the EXACT same rifle, legally purchased and in millions of Civilian hands is somehow magically transformed into an “Assault Rifle”?

26
posted on 01/31/2013 11:58:18 AM PST
by NFHale
(The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)

Thats actually not a pistol-grip if it is in front of the trigger guard.

************

I suspect Cruz should have used some tape and taped the plastic to the photo rather than holding it up. My guess is it has moved about while he is talking and not looking at the photo, assuming he knows where it goes in the first place.

But his point is valid in that it doesn’t change the weapon as to being more or less dangerous. JMO

The Dept Homeland Security just bought 7000 semi-auto AR-15s and calls them Personal Defense Rifles; why is it that the EXACT same rifle, legally purchased and in millions of Civilian hands is somehow magically transformed into an Assault Rifle?

Actually, DHS asked for a bid on 7,000 SELECT FIRE "AR-15-type" firearms - and, YES, they call them "Personal Defense Rifles." That means that DHS considers FULL AUTO guns to be for personal defense. I should think that such a definition would be useful in any number of state and federal court cases.

Thats actually not a pistol-grip if it is in front of the trigger guard.

They've got that covered in the bill: "(42) The term forward grip means a grip located forward of the trigger that functions as a pistol grip." So, even if it's not actually a pistol grip, if it functions as one in the mind of the Chief Libtard in Charge, it is one.

Worse, the Remington that Cruz is displaying could be banned under the act as having a pistol grip already: "(46) The term pistol grip means a grip, a thumb-hole stock, or any other characteristic that can function as a grip."

In the case of the Remington, the forward section of the stock is close enough to a "grip" to get it outlawed if the CLiC deems it so.

35
posted on 01/31/2013 12:14:43 PM PST
by John Valentine
(Deep in the Heart of Texas)

Furious at the December 1773 Boston Tea Party, Parliament in 1774 passed the Coercive Acts. The particular provisions of the Coercive Acts were offensive to Americans, but it was the possibility that the British might deploy the army to enforce them that primed many colonists for armed resistance. The Patriots of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, resolved: That in the event of Great Britain attempting to force unjust laws upon us by the strength of arms, our cause we leave to heaven and our rifles. A South Carolina newspaper essay, reprinted in Virginia, urged that any law that had to be enforced by the military was necessarily illegitimate.

The Royal Governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, had forbidden town meetings from taking place more than once a year. When he dispatched the Redcoats to break up an illegal town meeting in Salem, 3000 armed Americans appeared in response, and the British retreated. Gages aide John Andrews explained that everyone in the area aged 16 years or older owned a gun and plenty of gunpowder.

Military rule would be difficult to impose on an armed populace. Gage had only 2,000 troops in Boston. There were thousands of armed men in Boston alone, and more in the surrounding area. One response to the problem was to deprive the Americans of gunpowder.

Good on Sen. Cruz. The junior Senator has quickly turned into the leader of the Texas pair.

Yep. In a short, clear, one minute demonstration he has deconstructed the entire communist agenda "democrat" attempt to violate the Second Amendment.

He produced a plastic pistol grip and held it to the photo to demonstrate.

If this were attached to this rifle, it would suddenly become a banned assault weapon, he said, prefacing a question to witness Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president, who concurred with his analysis.

The problem with the whole bill, LaPierre said, is that its based on falsehoods from people who do not understand firearms.

Cruz has vowed to fight any effort to restrict access to any weapons or ammunition magazines currently for sale.

Also, do not count out John as he is attacking on a different front...

I have a hard time telling my constituents in Texas that Congress is looking at passing a whole raft of new laws, when the laws that we currently have on the books are so woefully unenforced, he said.

On the other hand, he added that hes open to exploring steps Congress might take to improve mental health care, and to improve screening to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

Perhaps its time to consider our background checks laws to see if they need to be updated to screen out the growing number of people who are subjected to court-ordered outpatient mental health treatment, he said.  There are areas where Congress can come together right now, examine the nexus between gun crime, violence, and mental health care. Im willing to listen to serious ideas, not just window dressing, to try to come up with solutions.

Not the best idea to ever be offered by John but it is certainly not the sweeping "mental health evaluations" from the communist agenda donks. If the whipped up communists are drawn out point by point, their agenda to usurp the Second Amendment can be walked back to zero.

Personally I dont see the communists fighting for this one as hard as it will really take to push something through.

They appear to be racking up points for their "street creds."

Then again, that leaves the door wide open for little bammy to issue another EO, make another speech on TV babbling on about "We can't wait on Congress - must act now-if one life can be saved" etc... and fly around the country doing more victory lap speeches and topping it off with yet ANOTHER speech at his prospective new employers offices, the UN.

About the best we can say about Cornyn is “well, it could have been worse...”

Cornyn is not a conservative leader; he’s barely a conservative at all, and he’s not right for Texas. I look forward to his primary challenge in ‘14. We can do better, and the election of Ted Cruz proves it.

42
posted on 01/31/2013 12:42:09 PM PST
by Nervous Tick
(Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)

So full auto AR15s when they own them are NOT “assault rifles”... Only civilian-owned semi-auto rifles can be “assault rifles”.

THEIRS are for “personal defense”...except when they’re assaulting civilians who decide not to comply...and even then, they’re only acting in “defense” - “personally”, that is - because they don’t want to be assaulted while they’re assaulting...and it’s all to protect us...

I get it...makes perfect sense. /s

43
posted on 01/31/2013 12:45:14 PM PST
by NFHale
(The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)

Whereas THIS must be EVIL! It is BLACK! It has a Pistol grip! (sort of) It is a semi-AUTOMATIC! It has a high capacity magazine! (14 rounds) Caliber is almost identical to that most evil of evil weapons, the M-16 (.22 vs .223)

Ted Cruz was in the middle of the pack with David Dewhurst a way out front favorite until Our Miss Sarah put her stamp of approval on him. Ted’s plan was to force a runoff and then win in the second race. The plan worked.

We attended as part of a small group when he made a quick campaign stop in Temple, Texas. We were outnumbered by his entourage and Dewhurst’s agents. His father gave the introduction. BTW, he was more impressive than Ted.

By the time Ted gave his presentation we were looking for signs and made donations to both of his primary campaigns. I don’t remember if we contributed to the final run since it was an already decided race.

I finally took the signs down from our fence line along a busy state highway about two weeks ago...

As Cruz leaves a wide wake,currently short but growing longer by the day, Thank Sarah!!!

47
posted on 01/31/2013 2:23:15 PM PST
by CenTex
(November 6, 2012... A day that will live in infamy!!!)

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.